Postgraduate studies

The statistics group offers a variety of postgraduate options in statistics, and also contributes to the Quantitative Genetics programme.

Postgraduate Statistics

A postgraduate degree in statistics allow you to further develop skills in the theoretical underpinnings of statistics and the application of statistics to real world questions. It may be the start of a journey towards a research career in statistics, and/or it may provide you with more advanced skills for a career as an applied statistician.

There are a number of options for students wishing to study statistics at the post graduate level including, Honours, Postgraduate Diplomas, Masters degrees and PhDs. The Statistics graduate programme requires undergraduate degree including 300 level statistics.

Many people become interested in statistics towards the end of their undergraduate degree, or after a period in the workforce, when they come across real data and real scientific questions, and want to develop their skills in working with the data. If you come from another field you can transition to postgraduate statistics papers by completing the necessary prerequisites through a Diploma for Graduates in Statistics.

Our postgraduate programme in statistics reflects the research areas of the statistics group. Areas of research strength include ecological and environmental statistics, stochastic modelling, point processes, Bayesian inference, hidden Markov models, scoring rules, model-averaging, over-dispersion, clinical trials, epidemiology, quantitative genetics, and statistical genetics. The statisticians collaborate with many other Departments and Research groups in the university including Zoology, Botany, Biochemistry, Geology, Preventive and Social Medicine, Genetics Otago, the Centre for Translational Research in Cancer, the Otago Global Health Institute, the Pharmacoepidemiology Research Network, and the Otago Earthquake Science Working Group. Staff also collaborate with researchers at other Universities in New Zealand and abroad, and with Crown-owned scientific research groups.

Quantitative Genetics

Quantitative Genetics uses statistical methods to understand the complexities of genetic inheritance, and can be applied in human medicine, population genetics and for selective breeding of plants and animals. So Quantitative Genetics is key in improving New Zealand’s primary sector productivity and profitability as well as for understanding the genetic basis of a very wide range of diseases.

Otago offers a postgraduate qualification in Quantitative Genetics through the Masters of Applied Science Programme.